|
|
Matthew
May 9, 2019
I Love this rifle it is lightweight, accurate and reliable. I didn't think i would care for the stock, but as it turns out with a small sheet of padding, the height works out perfectly and you just cant argue with having adjustable length of pull for prone uphill/downhill work. The hand-guard is awesome and is warm in the hand which is nice for hunting with. The tune-able muzzle break is great, Christensen has really done a good job putting this rifle together.
Some things to know before you purchase:
1. This rifle does not come with an adjustable gas block - and like ALL other production DI rifles without one, it is overgassed. The overgassed condition can be tolerated with the addition of a JP SCS system/heavy spring which corrects timing and ejection pattern to a cool 3:15 or so - it also mitigates recoil to a more correct level for this caliber.
2. Knowing that in chasing ultimate accuracy, you are in a race between the bullet exiting the muzzle and gas pressure reaching the key on the bolt carrier, this race is VERY close in the 24" barrel. If you hand load, you will notice when conducting ladder or OCW tests that you will have two distinct accuracy nodes, one high, one low. For reference, my high node in 130 grain bullets is 2965fps. It is my assertion that at this speed (or just above 2940 fps anyway) that the projectile clears the muzzle prior to any movement in the bolt carrier - this is vitally important if you want to put bullets in the same location every time. Once I found my accuracy node, this rifle is sticking 5 rounds in a .510 or smaller group consistently - something that bolt rifle loyalists say cant be done (and are dead wrong about).
Pet load: Hornady 2x fired brass, FL sized, shoulder set back .002, trimmed to 1.911, annealed, neck sized to .288. 44gr RL16, Berger 130gr AR Hybrid OTM tactical bullet, Federal GM215M gold medal large rifle magnum primer. CBTO 2.1770 COAL 2.7850~. Result: 2965FPS SD7 ES17 .5MOA~
3. If you shoot factory ammo, these rifles can be a little bit finicky. Take your time and get a box of everything one type/brand at a time. You WILL find a load that shoots lights-out for you. In my rifle, the factory ammo it liked best (for the money) was Hornady American Whitetail 129gr. Its no hot rod at around 2780fps, but it was very consistent and accurate in my particular rifle.
CONS:
-This rifle needs an adjustable gas block from production
-A tighter fit of the front receiver pivot/take-down pin would be good since the rear is adjustable via set screw, the front should be TIGHT.
-Add an option for a M-Lok hand-guard instead of keymod since there are far more M-Lok available options than Keymod anymore.
All in all, this rifle is worth every penny and does give the performance that Christensen Arms advertises. I am no "brand loyalist", but I own 3 Christensen rifles - all three are Superior in every way to other major manufacturers.
|